1-2-3-sweat

Every once in a while I’ll be exercising and a song will start playing on my MP3 player that exactly matches the pace of my movements. For example, Dwight Yoakam’s “Fast as You” and Eleven Hundred Springs’ cover of “Why You Been Gone So Long” provide the perfect soundtrack to my neighborhood walks. And every time I hear one of those songs, I think, “Man, I wish I could compile a mix of songs with the right tempos to keep me on track.”

Austinite Chris Lawhorn was apparently heard my wish. On his new site Run Hundred, he logs the tempos of the songs currently in the top 40 so you can find music to match the pace of your workout.

Lawhorn has determined that Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” has a tempo of 132 beats per minute and that Flo Rida’s “In the Ayer” has a tempo of 126 beats per minute, for example. Users can vote on whether they would work out to each song, make playlists of songs with similar tempos and find new music with the best tempo for their workout.

Lawhorn is working on building a bigger database of songs. In the meantime, users can find a mix of 2008’s hits, including music by Fall Out Boy, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, mixed in order by BPM.

“In short, a person can start jogging or biking or bench pressing along with the mix at 116 BPM and gradually speed up as the mix progresses to 158 BPM,” Lawhorn states in a press release.

If you’re like me and your favorite music isn’t exactly Top 40 material, don’t feel left out. Lawhorn will mix by tempo songs of your choice for download or on CD, for a fee.